Kohli is like Federer; Smith is more of Nadal: AB de Villiers

TIL Desk Sports/ Virat Kohli’s natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith’s mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an Instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game’s biggest crowd-pullers right now. “It’s a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there’s no doubt about that,” de Villiers said .

“In tennis terms, I’d say he’s more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs – he doesn’t look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease. I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure,” de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.